School offering testing...what to do?

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I am new to this board. I have a 15 year old son who hasn't been officially diagnosed with
Aspergers however we did bring him to a Neurologist and he shows "many symptons".
He is currently labeled as "learning disabled" in school and has been since age of 4
for speech,occupational and academic issues. He now is testing at grade level and
the school had wanted to reduce services. Our son feels very secure attending the
resource room everyday to recv extra help in a small setting. My husband brought up his concerns with our son not really having or wanting to do anything after school with other kids his age, having fears about getting a driving permit, riding in the car with his 18 yr old brother (which a lot of teens may consider cool) not wanting a cell phone and other concerns....Now the school has offered to send us to the local university for our son to be fully tested by a psycologist however they will recv the findings first.....dont know what to do...is this helpful or may this somehow be turned against us?

i don't think i would sign my child up for any type of psychological testing where the school would find out what is going before me or that takes away his/your choice to disclose any findings or not. i would also be reluctant to sign up for anything that would take away services that are helpful, like what your son is receiving. the fact that he is caught up to grade level doesn't mean he needs his services cut off, it means they are working and doing what they are supposed to. i would probably pass on this opportunity and seak out my own psychologist if i thought it would be worthwhile.

Interesting; I would have said it would be nice to know, and that it would be likely to increase services. It really depends on if you trust the team you are working with, and their goals and motivations. Knowing my son is AS created a world of positive changes for him.

that's a good point. my concern is that the school is looking to take services away. if the testing comes out in their favour and they have access to the reports before her that may be a problem. maybe the neurologist he saw could refer him to someone who would be able to make a diagnosis.

Thank you for your responses. As of now they are keeping all his services because of the information we presented the board with re the AS assumption. However we were told that because right now he is classified as learning disabled and cleary with his test scores being average are not able to keep him under that catergory. Since years ago he was tested and fell under the learning catergory they need testing done again to change the catergory or
he will be phased out of special services through the coming years. My husband is OK with it because he is now worring about our son after high school. Thank you again for your responses! I am happy I found this site, much useful and insiteful information!

If you trust the district, then I would do it. We had our testing done through the psychologsts and diagnosticians through our school because we spoke to people and everyone's recommendation was that our school had some of the best people around. We wouldn't find better on our own we were told. We were worried about having a school diagnosis in case we didn't want it to follow him later if he didn't want it to. They reassured us that his medical records would always have to be separate from his school records and that unless he had to have certain academic accommodations (which no one forsees him needing since his grades are good.), then no college would ever even realize he had services. Once we knew this, we felt more comfortable going with a school diagnosis.

If you're able to get a diagnosis done yourself go that way if you want to know first, if you're not able to arrange it then go through the school regardless of who finds out. A diagnosis will be harder to get the older he becomes and it could do him alot of good.

So let me get this straight: he has services because he has learning challenges, and those services (like being tested in a separate room) have allowed him to test at grade level so... the result is to remove the services that got him there?

Have you asked them about this catch 22? I would be interested in their response. My advice is to seek out a private assessment, yes it's expensive if you have no coverage, but it IS WORTH IT. Not only to help ensure he keeps his services, but because he, as a human being, deserves to know who he is. If Autism is a part of him, he is entitled to know it, and to know there is a big, welcoming community of others who are like him.

Whatever you do, do NOT allow his services to be yanked. Do whatever you need to do to keep things status quo, if status quo is working. Fifteen is such a pivotal age - he needs stability to get him through high school, not a radical change in the educational approach his school takes toward him.

yes it is true....they didnt want to take away services however reduce them starting sept. school year until more than likely they will be phased out by the time he is a senior. currenty he is a freshman....the testing that is offered through the school would be at the same location and same dept. at the university
that privatley we would go through.....we know as parents that he requires the few services he has and you are correct that is why he does as well as he does...right now high school is ok for him because he has an older brother in his school however next year that wont be the case.. for the past 12 years his routine has changed mildly..he is such a sweet and innocent guy and we are taking one day at a time....we are having major changes in our family and this just adds to the mix. thank you for your response

I'd take the offer.